The Affair
by eternalLament43
Summary: Danny and Sam are finally dating, but what happens when Paulina moves in next door to the Goth and finds out she’s cheating on him with her one and only love, Danny Phantom?
1. Make a Move

**Summary: **Danny and Sam are finally dating, but what happens when Paulina moves in next door to the Goth and finds out she's cheating on him with her one and only love, Danny Phantom?

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

**Chapter 1: Make a Move**

"So, how's the neighborhood?" asked Dash, snickering.

"Urgh, it's horrible," said Paulina, rolling her eyes and a look of disgust appearing on her face. "Can you imagine Daddy and I had to move because Grandmama need our old house for retirement? And that loser -- urgh. I can't believe I've sunk so low."

"It's okay, Paulina," said Star. "We're here for you. If wost comes to worst, you could always find her doing something and proof for blackmail."

"Uh, hello?" said Paulina, waving her hands in the air in an obvious manner. "I can do that anyday. Besides, I don't need some stupid blackmail to get back at that Gothic chica. I just hate the fact that I have to see her every morning before school when we both leave our house."

She shivered. It was true. Paulina had moved next door to Sam. And she hated the fact that that freak and her loser friends would be constantly walking past her place. Didn't she deserve better than that? She was top A-list material!

Just then, Danny Fenton and Sam Manson passed their table, hand in hand and grinning at each other with Tucker Foley by their side, saying something under his breath.

The popular table laughed. "Hey look, the lovebirds are finally expressing their affection for each other! Aw, isn't that sweet. Not! Go get lost somewhere in a room!" said Dash loudly for the whole cafeteria to laugh at.

Danny and Sam blushed a deep shade of red but scowled along with Tucker as they took a seat at their table.

Valerie, meanwhile, who had been sitting next to Star, had not said a word. She had heard that Sam and Danny were finally together; he had apparently admitted his feelings to her just a couple of days ago and asked her out.

She hung her head. As much as she knew the relationship would never work, she still really liked Danny. He was sweet, smart, cute, and funny. She didn't blame Sam, who could? Heck, she knew Paulina would ask him out if his family wasn't a bunch of ghost scientists. Come to think of it, she was glad Paulina didn't know about her secret, or she'd probably ban her from her table forever. Just imagine her knowing she was hunting the love of her life, Danny Phantom?

She looked over to where the trio was sitting and sighed heavily to herself as she watched Danny give Sam a kiss on the cheek, to which she giggled and turned a shade of pink. She had to admit she saw it coming. It was already Senior year, after all, how long would it take for them to realize it? Just let it go, Val. You know you have to...

"Val, are you all right?" asked Star next to her. "You seem kinda...down?"

"It's nothing," said Valerie, suddenly smiling, and continued to eat her lunch.

"Oh, I get it," Star whispered under her breath. "You still like that loser, don't you?'

Valerie frowned and turned to her to say softly but harshly, "He's not a loser! And...he's with Sam now. So what if I like him, people come and go."

Star looked at her, her smarmy expression slightly softening. "Maybe you still have a chance?" she said in a small voice.

Valerie looked at her sardonically.

Star looked over to Danny and Sam. Danny was eating a sandwich and some of the ketchup got on his face. Tucker laughed as Sam took a napkin and wiped it off.

"Oookay...maybe not," said Star. Something like an "Mmm-hmm" came out of Valerie's mouth and she returned to her meal.

"But come on, you can't sulk on about him forever. You know he's just a geek. He belongs with her."

"Yeah, I know. You're right," said Valerie. She was about to pick up her tray to empty it and leave the table when a sudden drop in temperature and a maniacal laughter filled the cafeteria as the lights flickered on and off.

Valerie scowled and, dropping her tray, ran toward the girl's bathroom.

"Valerie, wait! Where are you going all the time?" yelled Star, running after her.

A ghost appeared at the center of the cafeteria that looked like a lunch lady.

"Oh great," said Danny in an undertone. "Doesn't she ever give up? Meat isn't that good for you."

"Hey!" said Tucker. "I resent that."

"Whatever," said Danny, ducking under the table. "I'm going ghost!" he said as he turned into Danny Phantom.

Valerie had ran into the girl's bathroom. Her mind still slightly on Danny and, reminding herself that this is why they could never be together, she switched her ghost hunting equipment on. The latest version of her maroon suit covered her body and allowed her to turn temporarily intangible as she vanished through the wall.

She was too distracted to notice Star as she stood behind her, holding a hand to her mouth in shock, having witnessed the transformation.

_**For some reason this popped into my head and I thought it'd make a cute fic. Mostly for the sake of conflict and fluff. But mostly fluff. **_


	2. Neighbors

**Summary: **Danny and Sam are finally dating, but what happens when Paulina moves in next door to the Goth and finds out she's cheating on him with her one and only love, Danny Phantom?

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

**Chapter 2: Neighbors**

"Loser."

"Snob."

Sam and Paulina greeted each other as they both caught the unpleasant sight of the other by their front doors.

"Just so we're clear," said Paulina, raising her hands on her hips and looking at Sam before she could walk inside, "me living next door to you means nothing. You're no higher up the popularity ladder. Well, maybe a little. But only because it would make me look better."

Samantha winced.

"Do you even realize how ridiculously shallow you sound?" she said, folding her arms.

"Deep enough to warn you to stay away from me if you know what's good for you," said Paulina, scowling at her.

"Oh ho. I'm _scared _now. Miss Teen Queen just threatened the poor little Goth girl. Please. I'm not intimidated by you."

"Just stay out of my way and make sure none of your weirdness rubs off on me," said Paulina as she put the key in her door and opened it.

"You mean ignore you? Don't worry, I'm planning on it," said Sam as she furiously stomped into her house and slammed the door behind her.

Paulina was about to walk in the door when Sam suddenly ran out of her house and past her.

_Where is she in a hurry to?_ thought Paulina. _Hadn't she just got home? Great, even more weirdness. Freak._

That night Sam caught Paulina's attention from her window when saw her walking back home. And there, in the air, waving goodbye to her was...the ghost boy? Paulina was about to squeal at seeing him again but then reminded herself that something wasn't right with the picture. The Goth freak knew the ghost boy? Since when? Sure, he often showed up wherever she and that techno geek friend of hers went, but she never even considered the fact that she knew him. And where was her loser boyfriend Danny all this while? She pondered on it and then smiled to herself, running downstairs and out of her house to catch Sam before she went inside.

"Yoo-hoo! Sammy!" she yelled after her.

Sam turned around, scowling. What could she possibly want from her?

"Hi friend," said Paulina, giggling. "Hey, I was thinking and, you know how we got off to a bad start earlier?"

Sam scoffed. Wow, she _was_ smart.

"Well, I thought, since we're neighbors, we've gotta hang out more, you know?"

Sam's jaw dropped. Oh yeah, she definitely wanted something.  
"What is it?" said Sam monotonously.

Paulina giggled and Sam clenched her fists at the noise. "I just thought we should get to know each other better. You know, girl talk. Share childhood memories...secrets. You could show me around the neighborhood!"

Was she nuts? Well, she was Paulina.

"Why?" asked Sam curiously.

"Hello," said Paulina, smiling, "we're practically sisters!"

It was Sam's turn to laugh, and she laughed so hard that tears began to fall from her eyes. "Yeah...pretty girls really _can_ be funny. Seriously...you're killing me!"

Paulina rolled her eyes and waited until she was done. She was already living next to her, perhaps if she got the loser to hang out more with her, she could get the ghost boy's attention.

"So what do you say?" asked Paulina, putting on a fake grin.

Sam stopped laughing and frowned at her. "I can't promise you anything. If this is your attempt at getting me to change into someone like you, you're sadly mistaken. I'm an individual, not a blonde prototype -- "

"Who said anything about change?" asked Paulina innocently. "I think you've got a great look, I just never admit it because...well..what would people say, you know?"

Sam blinked. Was she serious?

"You...really think so?"

"Of course!" said Paulina, her eye twitching. "Although, I think we could definitely spice it up just a little. Keep it Goth but...with a little more flare. I'm sure _Danny_ would like that, don't you?" She cocked up her eyebrow and Sam blushed slightly.

Honestly, Sam has been considering changing her wardrobe around a bit ever since her and Danny had started going out. Never to lose the black, but maybe buy a couple of new things. She had to admit she loved it when he gave her _that_ look.

"Well..." said Sam uncertaintly, rubbing her arm. Just how dangerous was it to hang with Paulina? She had spent her life believing her to be a shallow ignorant witch. "...I guess it _couldn't_ hurt..."

"Perfect!" said Paulina, clasping her hands together. "How about we go to the mall tomorrow? Just the two of us. We'll have ourself a fun little make over, maybe go see a movie, you know...chat?"

"Er...sure, I guess," said Sam, shrugging. Part of her did not like this at all. What could have possibly changed Paulina's attitude all of a sudden? Not that she was worried that she would _do_ something cruel to her, she could take care of herself.

"I'll stop by sometime in the morning and we'll head out, okay?" Paulina said.

"Yeah. Okay," said Sam, not believing the words that were coming out of her mouth.

"Later!" said Paulina, grinning and waving at her until she walked back to her house.

Once she was inside, she shut the door behind her and scowled. _How low have I really sunk? A day with the geek? So wrong. But once I know more about you, Ghost Boy, it'll all have been worth it. _

Who knows, maybe if she got the Goth on her good side she could even set them up on a date.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around her, imagining that they were the ghost boy's.

"I'd do anything for you, Inviso-Bill."

Sam walked into her house and wondered what she had just gotten herself into. A day with Paulina? Yesterday it screamed nightmare to her. Even this morning she wished she wouldn't have to see her jerk face when she got to school, and now she had agreed to hang out with her for a day because they were neighbors?

This did not seem right. This did not seem right at all.

_**Sorry for the long time no update, but my Word program just completely vanished from my computer. I know, wtf? I had to restore it before I could finish working on anything else. Plus, with school starting, updates are going to be rare but promising (I hope). I dare say I know where I'm going with this, but we'll see. Please review! **_


	3. Childhood Secrets

**Summary:** Danny and Sam are finally dating, but what happens when Paulina moves in next door to the Goth and finds out she's cheating on him with her one and only love, Danny Phantom?

**Disclaimer:** Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

_**Sorry for the long wait, guys, but school is murder. Here it is!**_

**Chapter 3: Childhood Secrets**

Sam felt as if a rock had been dropped on her head when she realized where she was about to go that morning and with _whom_.

Paulina.

She shuddered when she reminded herself. Urgh, why did she even agree to this, she completely forgot.

_For Danny. Do it for Danny_, a voice told her in her head. Somewhere so deep, deep inside her head so that she barely heard it and wanted to retreat back into the pillows of her bed.

That, however, was an unfortunate mistake as a knock came on her door.

She muttered "Go away," and placed a pillow over her head.

"Sammy! Rise and shine, silly! You don't want to go to the mall when all those _common_ people are there, do you?"

Sam's eyes widened. How had she gotten into her house? She groaned. Mother.

"Er...hold on a sec, Paulina. I'm – ah – not really dressed yet."

"Oh, we're all girls here, no worries!" she said as she swung open the door, a fake beaming smile on her face.

Sam blinked at her as she stared through her sleepy eyes.

"Are you...wearing black?" she said as Paulina happily sat down on her bed.

Paulina simply smiled and said, "Well duh, I doubt you'd want to be walking around with me in pink. By the way, I love the style of your room, did you decorate it yourself?"

Sam had had enough. She thrust the covers off of herself angrily and stood up, hands on her hips, her bed hair sticking out in awkward directions.

"All right, that's it! Spill it! What do you want?"

Paulina stopped smiling and looked at her questioningly. "I don't get it. What do you mean? I can't act nice for once?"

"No! Not to me, of all people!"

"Oh, come on Sam," said Paulina, shrugging, "I'm not as evil as you play me out to be."

Sam looked at her incredulously. "How the hell can I be sure of that? That sounds like the cheesiest claim I've ever heard."

Paulina sighed and looked at the floor. If the paranoid geek was going to tell her anything about the Ghost Boy, she would have to sacrifice something very secretive to her. Something no one knew, and she hated the fact that she had to tell her, but she saw no other way. "When I was little, believe it or not, I wasn't exactly Miss Popular. In fact, I wasn't even this pretty."

Sam sat down on her bed across of her. "What?"

Paulina nodded silently, now hating herself for opening her mouth about it. If there's one thing she didn't need was the Goth's sympathy. "It's true. I was scrawny and dark-skinned while I was a pre-teen, you just never knew because I never told anyone. Girls and guys used to pick on me. One day I decided I was going to get them back. And then, one summer, I don't know. Something changed. I matured and it was as if my entire world turned around. I was actually...pretty. Gorgeous, really. When I came back to school guys were wallowing over me, asking for my name and phone number. I took advantage of it and played with their hearts, broke quite a few, especially of those that had picked on me. And it was just that, from that moment on, I decided that I wasn't going to let anyone ever say anything bad about me again. I guess I turned into the very people I...er...despised."

Paulina sighed and Sam cocked an eyebrow. "Is this true?"

Paulina nodded silently.

"Well it sure sounds like a cock-and-bull story to me," said Sam smugly.

"You don't believe me?" said Paulina, sounding rather hurt as she looked at her, actually wanting to kick Sam. She had just told her the darkest secret she had and she thought she was lying! That witch!

"Unfortunately for you, not one bit," she said scowling. "If you knew what it was like to be me, why would you pick on me so much then?"

"What are you talking about?" Paulina scowled, feeling herself redden out of anger. How could someone be so clueless? "You're beautiful."

Sam blushed. "Wh-what did you just say?"

"You think I hated you because you're ugly?" Paulina laughed. "If I was half as pretty as you back then, I would have been happier than anything. Your delicate porcelain face, your gorgeous amethyst eyes, your soft black hair...You think I haven't heard guys talking about you? I only hated the fact that you would neglect all of that just to be independent when I would have given anything just to look like you! If you ditched your individuality and told them how rich you were – and don't think I haven't noticed – you'd get as much attention as me. Sam, you say you don't believe me, but..."

Sam's eyes widened in realization. Suddenly what Paulina said made sense. "You...were _Polly?_"

Wincing, Paulina nodded and Sam gasped. She had gone to kindergarten with a rather weedy little girl that everyone picked on. Now that she mentioned it, she was dark-skinned with brilliant green eyes, but somehow anything but beautiful. Sam couldn't believe it.

_-flashback-_

"_Hi there," said a girl of three years old, wearing a purple sweater and green shorts. She had short black hair to her shoulders and a pleasant smile on her face,"I'm Samantha Allison Manson. You can just call me Sam."_

_She stood before a scrubby little girl that sat quietly on a kindergarten bench and looked up at her timidly. Her wiry hair stood out at random places and her eyes looked somewhat watery. She seemed out of place._

"_I-I'm Paulina Maria Esmeralda Sanchez," said the girl quietly._

_Sam scrunched up her nose, "That's a long name! They should just call you...um...Polly! Can I call you that?"_

_The girl squirmed and sighed sadly. "They already do."_

_Sam blinked and stared back at her, puzzled. "What's wrong with Polly?"_

"_More like, what _isn't_ wrong with her?" a boy behind them laughed cruelly, pointing at the small girl that hugged her knees on the bench. The group of boys with him pointed and laughed as well._

"_Yeah, Polly...want a cracker?"_

_The group burst out in laughter and Sam scowled, folding her arms as the girl began to sob. It was then that Sam took notice of a slight bump on the girl's nose that did make her look a bit like a parrot and she blushed, feeling horrible about calling her that name._

"_Stop that! Leave her alone!" she yelled._

"_Stay out of this, Manson, unless you want a nickname too. Be happy your not a freak like her. For now," said an obnoxious blonde haired boy who led the gang. _

_He continued to lead the group in singing "Polly Want a Cracker" as they walked away, laughing. _

_Sam ran up behind the boy and kicked him hard in the leg. He fell to the ground whimpering and said, "Geez, Manson, you are a freak!"_

"_At least I'm not a moron like you!" she said and went to comfort the crying girl._

"_Fine, but from now on, you're an outcast!"_

"_Ha! Like I care! Better an outcast than one of you!" said Sam, sticking her tongue out at them._

_She turned to the girl, but she had gotten up and ran away crying. She ran after her, but lost sight of where she went in the playground._

_Sighing, she shrugged and said, "I tried."_

_-end flashback-_

"But...I talked to you. I knew you. And you never said a thing."

"I didn't want it to slip out to anyone," said Paulina, looking down. It was true, she remembered what Sam had done for her, but associating herself with the Goth would have meant sacrificing her popularity, and there was no way she would admit to being a loser to anyone in high school now. "I went to middle school in New York, so no one ever knew what my life was like there. When I came back here, though, everyone knew only how beautiful I was and nothing more."

Sam couldn't believe it. Her entire life she had spent thinking that Paulina always got her way and here she was confessing that she was actually an ugly duckling. How was that for the greatest irony of the century?

Sam was in shock. She swallowed and then said, "There are things more important than beauty."

Paulina scoffed. "Only to you because you've never been concerned about it."

"Well, trust me, girls like you do quite a job to make girls like me feel horrible about themselves."

"I'm sorry," said Paulina insincerely, "I knew you loved being independent, I just could never understand why because, when I was independent, I had no one and I hated it. Anyway, go get dressed so we can head out. Come on, hurry Sammy, it's getting late."

Sam stood up, still thinking about what Paulina revealed to her, and then said, "Er...one thing. Can you not call me 'Sammy?'"

Paulina smiled. "Sure thing, Sam. Sorry."

Sam smiled and walked over to her clotheset.

"I'll leave that one to Danny," Paulina nodded and Sam slightly froze, blushing and emitted a slight cough from her throat.

While Sam shuffled through her clothing, Paulina eyed her room more closely with distaste. Gloomy posters resided on the walls of screaming and tortured figures that made her cringe, mostly of basements and castles, and a beautiful gothic architecture upheld the roof of the ceiling as artificial vines hung from metal hooks in the form of a pentagram.

She looked over to her bedstand and noticed a picture of Danny with his arms tightly around Sam, who smiled happily with a light blush residing on her cheeks.

Paulina didn't know why, but she felt slight twinge of jealousy as she looked at the happy couple.

"So, erm, how did you and Danny finally get together, you never said?" Paulina called to her.

"You're interested?" said Sam, peeking at her from inside her clotheset.

Paulina giggled. "Of course! I mean, I just shared my deepest childhood secret with you. I think you owe it to _me_ to clue me in a little about yourself. I mean, we're neighbors and I barely know you!"

Sam scowled slightly but then smiled. "Um, all right, I guess. I've kind of liked Danny for a really long time, probably since freshmen year and, I kind of think he did too but it took him a real while to come around. It's funny really..."

Paulina rolled her eyes as the Goth went on about her miserable love life and all she could hear was a dull humming as she observed her perfectly manicured nails. Man she was obsessed with that loser, what made him so special anyway? Didn't she know that there were other fish in the sea? She really needed a hobby.

"...and, finally, that night he came over my house. I answered the door and he was actually _panting_. He had _flo –_ er, _ran_ all the way over there to tell me that he had been the biggest idiot in the world and if I could ever consider forgiving him. I told him I would because I was his best friend. Then we hugged and he told me that he wanted to be more than friends and then...well...that was it."

"Uh-huh," Paulina muttered, and then snapped, realizing that Sam had finished her story. "I mean, that's_ wonderful!_ I was always wondering when you two lovebirds would get together."

Sam laughed nervously and walked out of her clotheset, wearing some casual Goth clothes with a hint of...

"Is that...pink I see?" said Paulina, blinking.

Instead of the usual green-platted skirt, Sam had found a pink-platted one and replaced her green hair clip as well.

Sam shrugged and said, "Well, since you're sacrificing yourself, I might as well comply. But only for today."

Paulina clasped her hands together and grinned, "Awesome! It's like we've been friends forever!"

"Er...yeah," said Sam as her eyebrow shot up. She still felt a bit awkward standing next to Paulina, now knowing the truth about her and yet being unsure of what to think of her. How could a person that went through so much emotional abuse be so..._horrible_ to others? It didn't make sense to her and she knew that she wasn't ready to trust her."So...let's go?"

"Let's go!" said Paulina, enthusiastically.

"So...Sam. What else don't I know about you?"

"Well, I'm an Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian, I'm Pro-Life and Pro-Animal Rights, I usually hang out – "

"That's nice! Oh, hey, being a Goth and all, you must be into ghosts, aren't you?"

Sam blushed. "Erm...well. I guess you could say that."

"I mean, there are a bunch in Amity, but most of them are awful! You ever met a nice one? You know, one who isn't out to posses you?"

"There...is one. But I doubt I should..."

"No, no, go on! I'm totally into the paranormal."

Sam scowled. She couldn't talk about Danny to her, she could get suspicious and start asking questions. Besides, Sam always knew she had a huge infatuation with Phantom. Being reminded of this made her wonder if she was hanging out with her to find out more about him and a pang of jealousy rose in her stomach, but she attempted to ignore it, trying not to judge her too soon.

"Have you ever heard of a ghost called Clockwork?"

_**Hopefully I didn't make Paulina seem too OC, but she's going to be really important in this story, obviously, so I'll try to get her right. Also I realize there hasn't been too much D/S yet, but it'll definitely come later, I just needed to get this started first. Please review and tell me what you think so far!**_


End file.
